Hollow Crown Review

Released: 2009Genre: Metalcore/Mathcore/Progressive MetalLabel: Distort Entertainment/Century Media RecordsNumber Of Tracks: 13
Hollow Crown is the third album by the metal band Architects. The album was leaked on the internet on 12th January 2009.

Hollow Crown
Reviewed by:
Gary the Hann, on march 11, 2009 5 of 10 people found this review helpful

Sound: I know there's probably a pierce lipped, floppy fringed, skinny jean clad bunch out there waiting to try and wound me with their words in an online comment for comparing Architects to Bring Me The Horizon but listen! I'm merely pointing out the fact that the vocal styling's of both Architects lead singer Sam Carter and BMTH's Oli Sykes are at times. Exactly the f--king same! There's just no denying it! However, I am not trying to take anything away from Architects individuality within the scene. One thing that Mr. Carter possesses in his vocal repertoire that Oliver Sykes does not is the ability to, not only produce the voice of Satan but, actually to sing as well. In Dead March for example the transition from scream to melodic singing creates a stunning contrast. This contrast shows this band's diversity. Like in title track Hollow Crown, a melancholic ballad about missing someone close to you whilst out on the road, is a refreshing break from the br00tal chaos of the other songs on the record as a result of Sam's talented singing.
Architects sound like Bring Me The Horizon and Dillinger Escape Plan baking a speed melody cake. The technical fretwork of Tom Searle and Tim Hillier-Brook rips your face off with hooks that cause old ladies to have a lie down; the relentless drums of Dan Searle; the droning bass of Alex Dean and the blood-curdling roars of Sam Carter come together as one. // 7

Lyrics: The lyrics on Hollow Crown cover a number of subjects ranging from unreturned love to stalking! Sam Carter's lyrics on Hollow Crown are predominantly straight forward and quite melancholic. On many of the songs Carter sings of longing for and being lost without someone close to him. Sometimes on too many songs which gets me thinking Sam needs to expand his lyrical horizons before the topic becomes tiresome. Nevertheless, on songs such as the title track the feeling of desire and desperation to see this person is conveyed beautifully as Sam sings "As the sea breeze hit's my lungs it takes me back to where I belong". In We're All Alone the lyrics portray someone devoting their entire heart to someone they know doesn't love them back but yearning for that individual to love them back which is quite depressing to say the least. Lighten up guys! Nah I'm just playing. // 6

Overall Impression: Whilst being a nice little number to have under their belt I believe Architects will have to raise the bar for their next effort so that they can reach the heights they are clearly capable of reaching. Even though there are some corkers on this record it is hard to ignore some of the other more mediocre offerings. Those songs that are hard to distinguish from other songs in an overcrowded genre (I'm not mentioning names lol). On the other hand, sticking to the positives, there are songs like Early Grave, Dethroned and Dead March in there to prove that this band has what it takes to soar high above the crowd. Also, I recently missed to opportunity to go and see this band live DO NOT make the same mistake! Go see them and by the time of their next release you can be the ones say you were there first. // 6

Hollow Crown
Reviewed by:
YourMessiah666, on march 19, 2009 2 of 9 people found this review helpful

Sound: First and foremost, I'm quite shocked nobody has reveiwed this album yet, because it's f--king awesome. Anyway. This album is over-all quite the step-up from Ruin (an amazing album by the way). Things like production quality, musical ability, screaming/singing variations, lyrics, and over-all technicality. There is a lot more singing in this album than in Ruin, and some people might find this to be a good thing and others might say it's Architects going soft. But this is one rockin album. The drumming goes from amazing, to f--kin tight. The guitaring, clearer, faster, better, and heavier then ever. And Sams vocals are better and even more versatile than before. The lyrics, are classic Architects and won't disappoint. And as usual the album art is pretty awesome. I especially love the lay-out of the lyrics. // 10

Lyrics: The lyrics on this album are fairly similar to that on Ruin. But in this album they seem even more powerful with the way Sam displays his voice over the entirety of the album. And as stated above, the lyrics booklet is awesome, the way they display the lyrics are cool shit. Similar to the "Ruin" album of 2007, after a while it seems like he writes a little to much about the whole "break up" situation. But he says it in a much more creative way then that of other bands so it works well. My favourite lyrics from this album would have to be "We make no difference if choices have been made/when your path has already been walked/when your hourglass is fooling you," "I am your hero still I sleep alone at night/In years you'll thank me for getting everything right/I am the sun still I sit alone in a red sky," "Everytime my back is turned your falling closer into my world/I've told you so many times you need to back down, need to back down." 8 for similarity to Ruin & a little clich at times. // 8

Overall Impression: 01.Early Grave: really starts the album off with a bang. When they first released this song, with the music video I thought it was the greatest song ever. Still an amazing tune. Defines their technicality and style.
02.Dethroned: what gives you the right to silence me! Starts with an awesome vibe. You'll be yellin this song as soon as you hear it. A great song to bring in the new fans who might be new to Architects. Sam does a perfect amound of melodic singing in this song. Kind of remings me of You'll Find Safety off Ruin.
03.Numbers Count For Nothing: a bit of a math-metaly introduction. Heavy and fast, good track. Awesome use of pinch harmonics later in the song, and the lyrics are just awesome.
04.Follow The Water: one f--king heavy song. I love this song. Another set of awesome lyrics and diverse vocals. Get me out alive! Gotta love the call-outs in this tune. A little bit of sampling/electronic drums in this song which is a bit of a shock, but works well. Great Architects style switch up halfway through the song to some tapping and some crowd chanting.
05.In Elegance: this is almost more of a rockish vibe for the first little bit, which is kick ass, totally unexpected. The lyrics are awesome, I can definitely relate. A little bit more of the sampling/electronic drums in this track. And good to see some layered vocals. A lot of singing in this song which is awesome the way it vibes with the tapping.
06.We're All Alone: some of you may know this song was originally on Architects split album along with Dead Swans. I can't quite tell if I like this song on this album or not. f--kin awesome song though. Get the shirt.
07.Borrowed Time: the drumming in this song will definitely hit you as unique and wicked. A great song to headbang to if you're angry. A very fast paced song, with two kick ass breakdowns that everyone will love.
08.Every Last Breath: this is a very complex song, the guitaring is absolutely tight, and the singing is very complementary and sounds awesome. We get to hear a bit of Mister Carters accent in this song, which is always cool. Probably the best piece of melodic singing on the album in my opinion.
09.One Of These Days: my favourite song on the album. It's rippin fast throughout most of the song, with some awesome sig changes and pauses. "How did you think you'd get away with this?!" And the final breakdown of this song gets my vote for heaviest/best breakdown of all time. The harmonic they hit in the middle is f--king hypnotizing. And the screaming is just great.
10.Dead March: starts out with some kick ass Architects style time changes, fairly similar to Save Me from Ruin. The singing in this song is a little much for my personal taste, but if you wait it out the song gets heavier and it makes up for it.
11.Left With A Last Minute: the only thing that sucks about this song, is that it's too damn short. This song is awesome. Reminds me of the Ruin days almost. I love the break-down near 1:30. And the lyrics are totally great "All I seem to hear in my head is your voice on repeat/I close my eyes and I still f--king see you."
12.Hollow Crown: I dislike this track. A lot of sampling in this song. Very calm singing, and only a little yelling near the end. Although it is a great showcase for Architects' diversity. I honestly couldn't believe that Sam sang in this song because his voice is so different from the other tracks. I still don't completely believe he does it all by himself haha. Good ending track though no doubt.
The first time I heard this album, I was honestly speachless for about two hours. Then I couldn't stop saying how good it was. It's such a great album and every single Architects fan should own a copy. Typical Architects, this CD is very unique compared to a ton of bands coming out now-a-days. And as I said in my review for Ruin, everybody reading this review should buy this CD. It's awesome. If this album were somehow lost (from it's now constant spot in my CD player), I would hurry my ass up and order a new copy. And maybe even two because I wouldn't want to go 2-4 weeks without it again. The only thing I didn't like in the album was there was a little too much singing for me, but the greatness of everything else makes up for it. Go out and get yourself a copy. // 10

Eh, Oli Sykes copied Sam's vocals, not the other way around. Before, BMTH were all about the deathcore shrieking crap, and now with their latest they're doing the whole hardcore yelling thing. Also, it's kind of a concept album, so similar lyrical themes are a given.

Hollow Crown is amazing its rounds the album up perfectly. I like BMTH too and he has started to sound similar to sam but i think he just grew up and into a different style of music.
Plus the sadness will never end by bmth has sam as guest vocals so you can really hear the comparison.

MiniMusicMasta wrote:
I like both bands, but i would take Architects over BMTH anyday.
Hollow Crown is quality, so don't listen to Gary The Hann. He's made it sound shite.
YourMessiah666 review is far better.

You obviously havent read my review properly! In my opinion this album is very average doesnt really stand out yet I still discuss the positives! And everyone needs to look past the BMTH mention it was just because the singers sound alike lol P.s thanks for proving my opening sentance!

Gary the Hann wrote:
MiniMusicMasta wrote:
I like both bands, but i would take Architects over BMTH anyday.
Hollow Crown is quality, so don't listen to Gary The Hann. He's made it sound shite.
YourMessiah666 review is far better.
You obviously havent read my review properly! In my opinion this album is very average doesnt really stand out yet I still discuss the positives! And everyone needs to look past the BMTH mention it was just because the singers sound alike lol P.s thanks for proving my opening sentance!

Zomg!
You finish every sentence with an exclaimation point! Like you would die if you didn't!
I thought Architects were more political in their lyrical approach.

Just as a quick pointer on YourMessiah666's Review, in the part where you say that you think he talks too much about the whole break up situation, if you actually read the lyrics and read/listen to interviews from sam carter, the whole album isn't really about breaking up with anyone or anything like that, its all about bands who put no work or effort into the band and yet they still get super-star status's where as architects have been working really hard since 2004 and have only really started to get noticed in this album, meaning that all of the bands that they despise for being false as wearing 'Hollow Crowns' which is where the name of the album comes from.
Just thought I'd throw that into the mix
DanKraken2009